Modeling Analysis of SOFC System Oriented to Working Condition Identification

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) generation system is an important equipment to realize “carbon neutralization”. In SOFC system, a fault will cause changes in working conditions, which is difficult to detect early and find the reason due to the high temperature and seal environment. Therefore, the mechanistic model is a feasible way to find the reasons for the change of system working conditions. In this paper, based on the first law of thermodynamics, the system model of SOFC is built under multiple working conditions, and the influence of stack, afterburner, heat exchanger, and reformer fault is studied on the thermoelectric characteristics and efficiency of the system. The results show that with the introduction of these fault mechanistic models, the dynamic response characteristics of SOFC system under multiple working conditions can be obtained by tracking the key performance parameters qualitatively. The work of this paper is helpful for the guidance of the fault diagnosis of SOFC system in the future.

Investigation of Economical Design Strategies for the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Afterburner Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation

“…To heat up the 1 kW SOFC system, the exhaust temperature of the afterburner should be discharged in the temperature range of about 1073–1273 K . In addition, for safe operation, the exhaust temperature has a limit range of about less than 1473 K …”

“…The following constraints should be considered to satisfy the start-up operation of the SOFC system: To heat up the 1 kW SOFC system, the exhaust temperature of the afterburner should be discharged in the temperature range of about 1073–1273 K . In addition, for safe operation, the exhaust temperature has a limit range of about less than 1473 K To reduce pollutant emissions during system start-up, the afterburner should sufficiently react with intermediate species, while minimizing the emission of CO and NOx. To avoid damage to the equipment by thermal stress, the walls of the afterburner should have a low-temperature distribution. …”

“…For example, Chung et al investigated the benefits of fuel recirculation using an afterburner, and their results showed that recirculating partial fuel and steam from anode-off-gas can increase the overall system efficiency by around 36% . Moreover, several simulation studies analyzed dynamic correlations among the afterburner, stack, heat exchanger, and reformer and explored optimal operation ways of the SOFC system with an afterburner. − …”

A Single-Stack Output Power Prediction Method for High-Power, Multi-Stack SOFC System Requirements

“…Scientists around the world are actively seeking clean energy that can achieve optimal conversion efficiency [3,4]. The solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) has become an attractive option for electricity generation due to its efficient electrochemical power generation reaction and environmentally friendly characteristics, with water as the byproduct [5,6]. In order to enhance its industrialization and promotion, many researchers have developed SOFCs from single-stack to multi-stack systems, and integrated them with other balance of plant (BOP) components, forming an independent power generation system that can adapt to multi-application backgrounds [7,8].…”